Insanity Max 30 Guide to Eating Out

10 Tips for Eating Out

1. DO YOUR RESEARCH
 Even when you don't have time to cook, eating out doesn't have to mean unhealthy. Use the internet or your smartphonw to look up the menu or nutritional info of almost any restaurant and decide what you want to eat, before you leave the house so you will know what to order and how to order it.

2. PAY ATTENTION TO HOW FOOD IS PREPARED
 Menu items usually have a description, indicating how the food is prepared and if not, ask.
DO NOT get anything deep-fried, pan-fried, basted, batter-dipped, breaded, creamy, crispy, scalloped, Alfredo, au gratin, or in cream sauce
DO look for items steamed, broiled, baked or sauteed

3. DRINK WATER NOT SODA OR JUICE
 Soda is a huge source of sugar and calories, and can ruin your diet by itself.

4. CONTROL YOUR PORTION SIZES
 America is known for its LARGE portions so pay attention and learn your portion sizes.

5. EASY ON THE SALT
 When you 're not cooking your own food, you can pretty much guarantee the food you're eating has too much salt. Ask restaurants to go light on the salt or omit it altogether. try to avoid the salt shaker and look for lower sodium options.

6. SKIP THE BOOZE
 sorry to bring bad news, but beer, wine and margaritas are filled with sugar and empty calories. Eat your calories, don't drink them. Plus, when you have a drink or two, you'll want to eat more!

7. SEND BACK THE FREE FOOD!
 The breadbasket, rolls, tortilla chips, wonton noodles or whatever else they put on the table right when you sit down isn't FREE of fat, calories and sodium. You didn't order it, so don't eat it!

8. HAVE IT YOUR WAY
 Most menus use healthy ingredients, but the preparation makes them unhealthy. the great part about eating at a restaurant is 9 times out of 10, they will happily prepare your food however you would like it prepared. Really, speak up, don't be shy.

9. "UNDRESS" YOUR FOOD
 Always ask for the sauce/condiments/dressing on the side. And instead of pouring it on, dip your fork in the sauce before you take a bite.

10. SKIP DESSERT
 Skipping dessert can save you 500-1,000 calories or even more. You'll be glad you did.

Why Shakeology!?!

Shakeology has been and a huge tool in helping me in my weight-loss fitness journey. I drank green smoothies for a couple years. You know, the smoothies, full of delicious blended fruits and veges. I would blend my spinach and fruit and other things and take them everywhere. My friends used to make fun of me and my sludge-y drink that was browning in my mason jar. Sometimes they were delicious, sometimes not so delicious. I was always looking for healthy superfoods to add to my smoothies to get the healthiest drink possible. But some of those things are so expensive. I was so excited to find Shakeology because it had all these amazing ingredients I had read about that had amazing health benefits and it was all packaged in a drink that costs around $4.  And it was delicious. I am hooked. The benefits are amazing. More energy, healthy foods, more regularity, feel great. Now some people are not too excited about paying around $4 per drink, but let's be honest, most of those people are perfectly fine spending that kind of money on a drink from Starbucks! And this is way healthier than a drink from Starbucks. I am officially a Shakeology addict and proud of it!

Check out some of these great recipes for Shakeology that are not only shakes, but also delicious "treats".

Also, here are some links to other sites where you can find some treats

Vanilla Almond Energy Balls from Beachbody Blog

No Bake Shakeology Cookies from Spark Recipes

And these are my favorite Shakeology Breakfast bars from Autumn Calabrese

Hope you Enjoy!

Over-Night Oatmeal

I am a BIG fan of Pinterest! I was on there the other night and realized that I have 64 boards! That is a result of many nights of late night nursing, I have recovered somewhat from my Pinterest addiction. However, there are some amazing things you can find there. 

One of our favorite breakfasts is oatmeal. It is easy, it is healthy (depending on what you put in it) and makes you feel warm on cold winter days. I am a HUGE fan. We have recently been introduced to over-night oatmeal and crock-pot oatmeal (which I will share on a later post). This is a simple fun way for the kids to make their own breakfast and make it the night before so the mornings can go a little more smoothly.  We have a basic recipe we follow and then do a lot of our own add-ins and creations to make them our own. It is super quick and sometimes delicious and sometimes not, depending on the concoction made. Hope you enjoy!

Basic Recipe:

1/4-1/2 cup Old Fashioned Oats
1/2 cup milk, we use coconut, you can use any kind, cow, almond, soy, etc.
2 tsp ground flaxseed
2 tsp Chia seeds
1 tsp honey (we have also used agave and stevia and sometimes plain old sugar)

Combine all these ingredients in a seal-able container. We like Mason jars and their plastic lids, because we have an abundance of them. And stir or shake it up.
Then, put lid on and place in fridge overnight and enjoy in the morning!

Favorite recipes
Chunky Monkey
1/2 a mashed banana
1 TBS cocoa powder or chocolate or carob chips
1 TBS PB2

Berries and cream (or Peaches and Cream)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup yogurt, we use greek plain
1/2 cup berries, frozen or fresh

Raspberries and Dark Chocolate
1/2 cup Raspberries, fresh or frozen
Chocolate or carob chips to taste

Almond Joy (my favorite)
1 TBS cocoa powder or chocolate chips
1/2 TBS raw coconut flakes
1 TBS slivered almonds

Good old Brown Sugar and Cinnamon